The Trump administration will deploy hundreds of National Guard members from Republican-led states West Virginia, Ohio and South Carolina across Washington, D.C. The deployment comes as a further escalation of the president's baseless claims that the city is in desperate need of a federal crackdown on crime and homelessness.

The move, announced on Saturday, is the latest step in President Donald Trump's campaign to flood the nation's capital with federal law enforcement to combat "out of control" violent crime, a claim that defies evidence. Federal data from January found that violent crime in the area for 2024 was at a 30-year low, and down 35% from 2023.

Trump has attempted to justify his executive order federalizing local police forces and activating around 800 D.C. National Guard members as a proportional response to a crime emergency. Some critics have surmised, however, that Trump's calls for a fierce military presence in D.C. is actually intended to provoke angry protests in a blue city, which in turn may help grant the Trump administration justification to further escalate force against those who oppose his agenda.

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"It's a rule of oppression; occupying forces come from areas outside of the occupied territory," one Reddit user commented in response to the announcement.

"The DC National Guard live in the area, have family living there, and know the local culture. Troops from WV only know what they see on the news and feel no connection to the local people so it's easier to act as an oppressor rather than sympathizer."

A protest against Trump’s intervention drew scores to Dupont Circle on Saturday before a march to the White House, about 1.5 miles away. Demonstrators assembled behind a banner that said, “No fascist takeover of D.C.,” and some in the crowd held signs saying, “No military occupation," according to The Associated Press.

Trump was at his Virginia golf club after Friday’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey, R-W.Va., announced Saturday that he was sending a contingent of 300 to 400 Guard troops to Washington. “West Virginia is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation’s capital,” Morrisey said.

The West Virginia activation suggests the administration sees the need for additional manpower after the president personally played down the need for Washington to hire more police officers. South Carolina also pledged 200 troops, and Ohio said it will send 150 in the coming days.

Hundreds of federal law enforcement and city police officers who patrolled the streets Tuesday night made 43 arrests, compared with about two dozen the night before. D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson downplayed the arrest reports as “a bunch of traffic stops,” however, and said the administration was seeking to disguise how unnecessary this federal intervention is.

“I’m looking at this list of arrests and they sound like a normal Saturday night in any big city,” said Henderson.

The president appeared to be using Washington, D.C., as a test case for militarization of other liberal cities' law enforcement, pointing this week to Oakland, Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles and New York City as future federalization prospects — all cities which are led by a Black mayor.

On Tuesday during a virtual event, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser described the takeover as an "authoritarian push."

The Democratic Mayors Association called his federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department a “political charade” to distract Americans. “Let’s be clear: Crime is down in most major cities—including Washington, DC—in spite of Donald Trump, not because of him,” the group said in a statement. “While there is still more work to be done, Mayors need a federal partner who works with them, not against them.”

Trump on Monday vowed to allow police to do "whatever the h--- they want" if provoked.

Alex Koma, an NPR politics reporter, reported Friday that residents of D.C.’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood witnessed a group of federal agents tear down a pro-immigration banner for a photo.

Ring doorbell footage of the incident showed a handful of agents near the poster — which stated “No deportations in Mount Pleasant. No a la migra [No to ICE]”) — before one rips it down from a fence.

"This instance of immature vandalism joins other noble deeds performed by the forces descending on the capital on Trump’s orders, along with ambling around the city’s safest neighborhoods, bothering residents smoking cigarettes on a stoop, and sending a reported 20 officers to arrest a man for throwing a Subway sandwich at an agent (despite the man having offered to turn himself in, per his lawyer)," The New Republic wrote on Friday.

In response to The Daily Express's request for comment last week about Trump's claims about city violence conflicting with federal data from January, a White House official pointed to several specific instances of violent crime over the past four months. The official did not respond when asked to address data from the MPD itself, which reported that homicides are down 11% compared to the same period in 2024 and that violent crime is down 26%.